What Are You Knitting?

Every year when the Christmas knitting rush begins (sometime in November, probably), I always tell myself, and everyone else, that, you know, I'm just not planning that much Christmas knitting this year. I don't want to be like the thousands of other knitters working frantically through the night, working their little fingers to the bone trying to finish that sweater for Aunt Sally and those socks for Brother Barnaby and tens of dozens of scarves for teachers, postmen, and that random waitress at Bob Evans who's been SUPER nice every time you stop in for some hot chocolate, which really only happened once, because PUH-lease! You don't have time to get hot chocolate at Bob Evans, what with all the KNITTING you have to do!

Yeah, I don't want to be like that.

However, I do typically end up with a few Christmas knitting projects despite all the protesting. You've seen one of them already: Calvin mittens. And what's a pair of Calvin mittens without a pair of Maggie mittens?

Okay, so I don't yet have a pair, but I still have 10 days, right? Who couldn't finish a pair of mittens in 10 days? (The yarn is Artyarns Ultramerino sock yarn, the needles are, what else? Size US 2 dpns.)

Okay, maybe Maggie couldn't, but she is only four. Give her a break.

I'm also making a classicly-styled* ribbed hat for the coolest bank guy ever. I have a friend who works at my bank branch who has helped me out a number of times with issues with my account, who asks me continually how things are going and how goes the job search, and who is just a generally swell human being in a world that seems to feature fewer and fewer of those. He doesn't have much family and may be alone for the holidays, and I thought that if he could at least keep his head warm, he might be able to keep a warm heart full of holiday spirit, as well. (The yarn is di.Ve Autumno, 100% merino wool, über soft. Needles are addi turbos, #8, 16".)

I'm also making what appears to be an alligator, but he won't come up out of the water long enough for me to get a good picture.

Soon I will be knitting like a fiend on The Sweater. A little birdie from the yarn store called yesterday and said that more of the Donegal Tweed has arrived. Hurrah!

So. What are you knitting?

p.b. My friend Joy asked how the square was going. Well, Joy, a.k.a. Forgetter-Of-Nothing, the square was finished, and then ripped out. The pattern told me to cast on 76 stitches, when I would have been much better off casting on only 72. Nevertheless, I knitted the entire square with four extra stitches, and wouldn't you know it, I had four extra stitches at the end. So it has been ripped out and the yarn has moved on to different projects. However, I did enjoy the whole Mitered Square Experience (MSE) and I shall return to it in the future. Thanks for asking.

* If "classicly" isn't a word yet, it soon will be. You just wait.